the-importance-of-wordpress-theme-customizationEstablishing a prominent presence online isn’t quite as straightforward as it used to be, thanks to ever-changing user demands for fresh and innovative online experiences.

We are well past the stage of simply creating standard WordPress websites to attract users to our products and services. What’s more, one really needs to stop and think for a moment about how one’s site must be completely up-to-date keeping in view the current norms and trends, in order to cater to an audience’s diverse needs.

All of this is possible through WordPress theme customization, which involves customizing your chosen theme to ensure that it behaves as per your needs, as well as the needs and desires of your audience.

Matei Gavril, CEO at PrMediaOnline says, “Online marketing is largely about customization. Every business is different, and so are the clients. Businesses need to customize in order to reach their customers in an impressive manner.” he continues, “When we audit sites, the design is one of the first few things we check. While most of our clients are already on WordPress, we suggest all others to use this platform due to several reasons, including customization options.”

To put it in perspective, here are some benefits or reasons, if you will, to better explain the importance of WordPress theme customization.

An Original Design That Really Stands Out

Think back to the past week or so – how many sites have you come across that look, sound and feel pretty much the same? You just sift through the pages, at one point your eyes even glaze over and you stop engaging with the content because it’s all the same.

Remember that a memorable site design is what inspires your visitors and instills in them the motivation to further explore your site. It will leave them in awe since when they see a site boasting a brand new design. Your objective here is simple: spice up your preset theme and enjoy more traffic to your web pages.

Keep the Code “Lightweight”

Apart from the design aspect of pre-made WP themes, some also contain faulty codes because developers will have generally varying skill sets and they may write codes that may not be fully tested for bugs.

Custom WP themes on the other hand are very code-efficient because they only have features that you really need, instead of stuffing a whole range of features that serve no purpose. In the process, the chances of bugs and ‘bad code’ can increase even more.

Extra features that you don’t need will only slow down your website. Quick load times are not only important in terms of user experience but also high search engine rankings. So ditch standard themes and stick to customized ones to further streamline your overall site maintenance.

Conveniently Make Changes to Your Site

WordPress theme customization lets you make certain changes to your WP website such as easily changing headers, footers and sidebar layout or how images are displayed. So in essence, you’re customizing the theme of your website to have better control over how each page looks and functions. Once you understand the flexibility WP theme customization offers, keep the following in mind:

  • Choose your theme carefully because if you’re planning on installing a pre-made theme, you need to go with one that’s not only responsive but one that has ‘clean code’ and offers plenty of customization.
  • Use the supplied tools to customize your website; there are a number of tools which come in handy when you want to make changes to your website design. For example, Adobe Photoshop’s image editing software lets you make edits to your design files. All you have to do is customize your PSD and convert it to a WP theme.
  • It really pays to recruit a seasoned WP designer among the ranks. You may or may not have the coding expertise and creative prowess to have your very own unique design, in which case you ought to hire the services of a credible WP theme designer. Make sure he/she has extensive experience in WordPress theme customization. An added benefit is that hiring a developer will help you further in molding your design just the way you want.

Good to know:

  • Some of the internet’s top websites including New York Post, USA Today, CNN, Fortune.com, TIME.com, National Post, Spotify and TechCrunch all use WordPress
  • 8% of the top 100 blogs according to Technorati are managed with WordPress
  • 37 million global Google searches for “WordPress” are made per month
  • 409+ million people view more than 19.6 billion pages on WordPress.com monthly
  • 50,000 WordPress.com websites are being launched daily – Source

Wrap up

Stay in touch with the latest online trends and present yourself as a unique identity by customizing your website’s WP theme. Take the above benefits and/or reasons with regard to the importance of WP theme customization into consideration, to establish your website’s authority online and leave a lasting impression on every user that visits your site.